Mifune
is the of the Land of Iron. Background At one point in the past Mifune and other samurai were pitted against Hanzō. While everyone escaped in fear, Mifune stood proud against him, willing to protect his comrades. During their battle Hanzō's kusarigama broke through Mifune's sword and struck his head, poisoning him. With the battle finished, Hanzō expressed his beliefs to him, and, acknowledging his faith and strength, gave Mifune the antidote for the poison and left.Naruto chapter 531, page 14''Naruto'' chapter 532, pages 1-8 Appearance Mifune has long grey hair, which almost reaches down to his waist, with bandages wrapped around his head, possibly covering the wound received by Hanzō in their past battle. He has black eyes with distinct wrinkles underneath them. He also has a grey goatee and moustache. During the Kage Summit and the meetings before the war, he was seen with a simple purple kimono-like outfit, but when the Fourth Shinobi World War began, he started wearing samurai armour, much more traditional in appearance when compared to the ones worn by his subordinates: it's composed of a breastplate, with four plates protecting his legs attached to it, identical shoulder pads, and matching arm and leg guards. He also wears a belt, to which is attached a pouch. Underneath his armour he wears a simple dark suit along with gloves and sandals. Also, unlike other samurai, he doesn't wear a mask. In his youth, his long hair was tied in a ponytail, he didn't have the moustache, and his goatee was much shorter. He already sported his samurai armour back then. Personality Mifune is calm and level-headed person who hardly reacted even when Danzō Shimura was found to be manipulating him. During the conferences with the Kage he is generally the one who keeps the meetings productive and on track, usually by using his lack of association with shinobi and their past conflicts to act as a neutral mediator. He is also very humble, having taken responsibility for criticizing the Kage during the meeting, rather than attributing it all to Danzō's manipulation, asking the shinobi for forgiveness afterwards. As he clashed with a resurrected Hanzō, he addressed him with much respect, promising him he would have spoken of him like a hero, and praising his great faith. Beneath his calm surface Mifune is a warrior of strong ideals, devoted to the ideal of . He showed no hesitation in committing his samurai fully to fighting the threat of Akatsuki despite the Land of Iron's long held position of neutrality in ninja wars. Abilities As the General of the samurai, Mifune has command of the rest of them and, by extension, is a highly capable leader. Despite his old age, Mifune has also shown great agility as shown from jumping high into the air to reach Sasuke and moving with incredible speed to attack Hanzō before he could form hand seals. Naruto chapter 531, page 13-14 He also seems to have built up immunity to Hanzō's poison since the two have clashed in their youth.Naruto chapter 532, page 10 Kenjutsu Mifune is a masterful swordsman who wields the katana . He is widely renowned as a master of Iai, a style of swordsmanship which involves the user rapidly unsheathing his blade to slash the enemies, and then re-sheathing it after completing the attack. Mifune's mastery of Iai is such that Hanzō and others have stated how it was useless to try and perform ninjutsu against him, due to the fact that Mifune is capable of attacking within the short time it takes to make hand seals. Due to his extensive knowledge of swordplay, Mifune can judge the weaponry skill of his opponents, such as Sasuke and Hanzō, after a single clash. Like his subordinates, he is also capable of channelling chakra through his sword to increase its cutting power. Part II Five Kage Summit Arc When the Fourth Raikage calls for a Kage Summit, the Land of Iron is selected as the site of the Summit. As the leader of the country, Mifune greets the Kage as they arrive. When the meeting begins he acts as a moderator, making sure that all of the Kage allow the others a chance to speak and remain civil. When the suggestion of an alliance between the Five Great Shinobi Countries is raised, Mifune asks that, as a neutral party, his input be respected by the Kage. To that ends he suggests that Danzō Shimura be placed in charge of an alliance on the grounds that Konoha's Nine-Tails is the only tailed beast to have not been captured by Akatsuki. When the other Kage protest, Mifune points out why they are unfit for the job: the Fifth Kazekage is too young; the Third Tsuchikage is too old and had used too much of Akatsuki in the past; Kirigakure has suspicious connections with Akatsuki; the Raikage is too easily overcome by his emotions. Ao soon afterwards reveals that Danzō is manipulating Mifune. Before Danzō can be questioned about this, Zetsu appears and reveals that Sasuke Uchiha is nearby. Mifune mobilises the samurai to apprehend Sasuke. Sasuke eludes the samurai and eventually makes it to the Summit hall; Mifune is the first to confront him. He manages to surprise Sasuke with his sword attack, but it is nevertheless deflected. Mifune compliments Sasuke on his sword skills. As the Kage unite against Sasuke and he is almost killed, Madara Uchiha appears and saves him. He shares his Eye of the Moon Plan with Mifune and the Kage, but when they are unwilling to cooperate with him he declares the Fourth Shinobi World War. Mifune again suggests an alliance, this time proposing the Raikage lead the coalition; not only has Danzō proven himself to be untrustworthy, but Madara has revealed that Kumo still has the Eight-Tails. He also offers to have the Land of Iron and the samurai join the alliance. Confining the Jinchūriki Arc To make preparations for the approaching conflict with Akatsuki, Mifune goes to Kumogakure to meet with the other heads of the Alliance. He agrees with sending the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails into hiding and, when their location is later exposed to Akatsuki through the actions of Kisame, suggests sending a small elite force as backup, because too large a force will be discovered by the enemy. The Tsuchikage is sent to reinforce the defences. When the Tsuchikage returns, Mifune shows him the Alliance's forehead protector that he personally designed. As this will be the last time all six leaders of the alliance will be together, he shares his belief that their unity will bring them victory. Shinobi World War Arc Mifune is placed in charge of the Fifth Division.Naruto chapter 469, pages 06-07 Because the Fifth Division is intended to reinforce the other divisions as the need arises, Mifune sends portions of his division to support the Second Division and First Division. Mifune himself personally leads a group of Samurai in helping the Surprise Attack Division, arriving in time to save a paralysed Kankurō from a revived Hanzō. Wishing to fight Hanzō by himself, Mifune instructs his Samurai not to interfere. Trading banter, the two engaged in a brief, but fierce duel, Hanzō trying to keep the distance with his kusarigama. During their duel, Mifune realised that his opponent's skill had become rusty, while his own skills with the blade were sharper than before. After Mifune prevents Hanzō from using hand seals with Iaidō, Hanzō tried to suffocate him in the poisonous mouth of Ibuse by having the Salamander swallow him whole. Mifune slashes through Ibuse's head to escape while Hanzō moved in for a final blow. In a complete reverse of their first battle years ago, Mifune cut the blade of Hanzō's Kusarigama in half and slashed through his body. Rebuking Hanzō for abandoning his ideals, Mifune was able to convince him of further possibilities towards peace. Reflecting on this, Hanzō committed seppuku, rupturing his poison organ and immobilizing him long enough to be sealed by the Sealing Team. Mifune then praised Hanzō's recovery of his ideals and promises to honour his exploits. Mifune is later seen recuperating after the first day of war along with the rest of his Division. Trivia * The name Mifune is often used for samurai or rōnin characters. It comes from the famous Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune, who made a name playing in over 170 feature films, often portraying samurai and rōnin roles. Some of the films he played in are Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yōjinbō, and Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy. Making the connection even stronger is Mifune's sword, which is called Kurosawa. Quotes * (To the Fifth Division) "No need for assistance! If you don't want to get cut, then don't get in my way." * (To Hanzō) Naruto chapter 531, page 06 * (To Hanzō) "People who continue to put their lives on the line to defend their faith become heroes and will continue to exist on in legends! Stop bending your faith and scraping away your body… give up trying to refine and polish yourself. Your attack doesn't have the sharpness it used to! Because of that, your blade is dirtied with blood. Bluntness will not last! People are like swords!" References